Masters in Leadershiphttp://masterleadership.de
Blog of the Master Programme LeadershipFri, 26 Sep 2014 14:33:33 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.13Norway. The Third Season Already.http://masterleadership.de/2013/10/22/norway-the-third-season-already/
http://masterleadership.de/2013/10/22/norway-the-third-season-already/#commentsTue, 22 Oct 2013 08:18:33 +0000http://masterleadership.de/?p=734Continue reading →]]>Thanks to my colleague Professor Hong Wu, I was invited to teach at Høgskolen i Østfold in Fredrikstad (a partner University of Karlshochschule) for the third time this autumn. While I was teaching Change and Innovation in 2011 and 2012, I taught Marketing this year. Since I have been working with Norwegian companies for many years, it was a great opportunity to combine own business experience both as a consultant and a the general manager of a Norwegian company in Germany with my academic research and teaching.

Furthermore I asked a group of students from my other study program “International Marketing” to join me on the trip. I tried to focus my lectures on business between Norway and Germany and the challenges of business between smaller and bigger countries in general. And this is what my students wrote about their trip and their learning experience im Norway:

“[…]Our first impression [of the Høgskolen i Østfold in Fredrikstad, LB] was very positive. In our opinion, the university is kind of a bigger Karlshochschule, at least the building we have been taught in. With nearly 3.000 students it is much taller, however, there are plenty of group rooms available. Also, the size of the classes and the transparent architecture is familiar to us.

When we entered our classroom on Tuesday morning we were warmly welcomed by our new temporary classmates, in total 25. Most of them are much older than we are. A 50-year-old guy, who is working during the weekends, managing his family and still having the energy to take a full-time class, is really impressing.

In our lectures, most of the time we were talking about marketing, especially the differences in marketing and business between Norway and Germany. We learnt a lot about the Norwegian market – we had, for example, a guest lecture from Bayer’s head of Norway (Torstein Myhre), and he explained to us, why Bayer isn’t that big in the Norwegian market: In the past, they refused to sell Aspirin as a powder, however the Norwegian pharmacies wanted to keep the powder and therefore stopped selling Bayer’s Aspirin. […]

Our “final” task was to give a lecture on a case study. Our new friends, studying “Innovation and Project-Management” had to develop a new product and a market-entry strategy for the German market. They were able to apply their gained knowledge from Prof. Becker’s lectures, and did an awesome job in doing so.
We spent the remaining two days of our stay in the capital of Norway. Oslo is a beautiful city, as you can see from the embedded pictures. Apart from one incident, we really had a nice stay: Unfortunately, one of our purses was stolen on the very first day in Oslo, and we spent the next morning at the local police (because they refused to help us the day before). However, we enjoyed our short visit, but also looked forward to the German prices.”

I think the students really enjoyed their stay in Norway and learned quite a lot. I myself enjoyed the opportunity to work with local companies like the above mentioned Bayer nordic, Kaluna and Loyds, the developer of the Paxter electronic vehicle. In Norway eMobility is widely accepted, especially since electric cars receive many benefits such as tax reduction, free parking and the permission to use bus lanes.

But also the cultural aspects of the trip where quite exiting, Hong Wu and I visited some bronze age places. For me it was quite impressing how already early trade could lead to the expansion and mixing of cultures.

]]>http://masterleadership.de/2013/10/22/norway-the-third-season-already/feed/1Narrative and Innovation – The Bookhttp://masterleadership.de/2013/03/15/narrative-and-innovation-the-book/
http://masterleadership.de/2013/03/15/narrative-and-innovation-the-book/#commentsFri, 15 Mar 2013 12:58:11 +0000http://masterleadership.de/?p=716Continue reading →]]>I think it was back in 2009 when Andreas P. Müller and I first had the idea to start a common research project on “Narrative and Innovation”. Our idea was to bring two views, the narrative and innovation, together. Our basic hypothesis was (and still is) that narratives are the forerunners of new social and economical issues and developments. Nevertheless we were also aware of the fact that only a broad range of technical, economic and social views could help us to understand this phenomenon. So we asked practitioners and faculty from various backgrounds and countries to contribute.

“Narratives are ubiquitous and hold the potential to indicate future changes in politics, economies and markets. As “stressors” and stabilizers in organizations, narratives and changes in the consensus narrative indicate the need for strategic change or organizational stasis and may be utilized as a source for early recognition in strategic management. The use of narratives in management, however, makes it necessary to adopt a new perspective. This volume offers a polyphonic forum for the development of an interpretive approach towards business administration, strategic management, and entrepreneurship, by introducing instruments of semiotics, linguistics, narratology, and others. This compilation, therefore, presents a comprehensive overview of scientific and industrial perspectives beyond the mainstream.” [Source: Springer VS (15.03.2013)]

The book displays a game changing approach to Foresight, Innovation and Strategic Leadership. It is a “must read” for both faculty and practitioners interested in really new perspectives on change and innovation.

We are looking forward to receiving feedback from our readers and discussing the topic with the community.

]]>http://masterleadership.de/2013/03/15/narrative-and-innovation-the-book/feed/2A historic casehttp://masterleadership.de/2012/10/16/a-historic-case/
http://masterleadership.de/2012/10/16/a-historic-case/#commentsTue, 16 Oct 2012 15:56:55 +0000http://masterleadership.de/?p=697Continue reading →]]>Tamara and Julien are students in International Business at Karlshochschule International University who currently spend their semester aboard in Brest/France. They asked me to send them a brief video statement for a presentation on the history of business.

I always thought it is important to know about history, but the more I deal with and learn about Innovation Management and Business Development the more I believe it is really important to gain a certain understanding of our economic and cultural history. It first of all helps us to answer three questions that are, for example, important for the strategic positioning of businesses:

“Why are we here?”
“How did we get here?”

and even more important

“Why did we get here?”

Also it may sound like an oxymoron at a first glance, but there is even far more to learn from history. The way we are doing business is deeply embedded into our cultural minds, it is a product of cultural heritage. We consciously or unconsciously adapt and modify ideas and behavioral patterns from our ancestors, abolish or improve them. And when thinking about innovation and new business strategies, we should always keep in mind that there always will be a tension between the heritage and the new. Innovation can only succeed in markets (and the society) if it overcomes the tension in one way or the other. Or as Reinhard Pfriem uses to say: “Strategies are cultural offerings to our societies.” They can be accepted, refused or modified by the recipients.

For Tamara and Julien I decided to describe briefly a historic case about intellectual property which will also be subject to a column I will publish these days.

One of my core theses has always been that “the citation and its variation” are the drivers of technical, scientific, cultural or societal innovation – the key to prosperity. Or the other way round: Insisting on property rights has never led to technical, scientific or societal advancements.

I think that my little video statement might be interesting for our students in the master’s program “Leadership” too. So here it is:

As you can see there are some ethical questions in here. Please think about them and take take the opportunity to discuss the case with with your peers.

]]>http://masterleadership.de/2012/10/16/a-historic-case/feed/0Doing Business in Chinahttp://masterleadership.de/2012/09/26/doing-business-in-china/
http://masterleadership.de/2012/09/26/doing-business-in-china/#commentsWed, 26 Sep 2012 14:33:12 +0000http://masterleadership.de/?p=686Continue reading →]]>Deniz Sakaoglu holds a degree from Karlshochschule International University‘s “International Business” program and a second Bachelor degree in European Business from Lincoln University in England. In 2008 the subject of his thesis at Karlshochschule was a consumer research about Doner Kebab in China. In his thesis at Karlshochschule Deniz had to solve a very tricky problem: How can you do consumer research on food, people do not know? After some tough discussions with his professor (me) he solved the question with bravado.

Sadly or luckily – this depends on the perspective – Deniz did not join our master program but decided to start his own business in China. After starting a Kebab production with several outlets in Lijang he and his partners now manage a venue with several restaurants in Beijing, the capital of China.

Here are the two parts of a video interview I had with Deniz in September 2012.

]]>http://masterleadership.de/2012/09/26/doing-business-in-china/feed/4Intercultural Project Managementhttp://masterleadership.de/2012/07/18/intercultural-project-management/
http://masterleadership.de/2012/07/18/intercultural-project-management/#commentsWed, 18 Jul 2012 08:13:22 +0000http://masterleadership.de/?p=677Continue reading →]]>As you may know, the next Summer Academy on Intercultural Experience (http://summeracademy-karlsruhe.org/) will start in the first week of August this year. For the first time I will also give a lecture at our summer school on a topic we also use to address in the Master’s Program Leadership:

Intercultural Project Management

The course gives a first brief introduction regarding theory and tools of intercultural project management and the role of a project manager in intercultural settings. It challenges project thinking and opens perspectives for a career in international project management.

What is a project?

A project is complex endeavor limited in time and scope. To appreciate the impact of project management on our economy and society, a deep culture-driven understanding of labor division from the earliest stages to the projectifyed „Weltgesellschaft“ (Luhmann) of the 21st century seems to be necessary.

A good project manager is able to deal with social and structural complexity. She or he appreciates to play with the complexity and has both the individual capability and the tools to reduce it. The good project manager is an excellent leader without always having the formal authority but being able to select the right people for the tasks to be done, to motivate these people and solve conflicts within the team.

She or he is a person that loves structured communication, keeps people always updated and aligns the interests of the stakeholders.

What is intercultural project management?

First of all intercultural settings add (social) complexity to the project. It‘s the project managers task to exploit the benefits of different world views on one hand and – on the other hand – to avoid limitations by making inclusion happen.

Leading in projects and leading with projects are among the core topics in the module “Conceptual Leadership” this winter term.

]]>http://masterleadership.de/2012/07/18/intercultural-project-management/feed/4Interview with Thomas Klug, Lecturer at Karlshochschule’s Master Program Leadershiphttp://masterleadership.de/2012/06/03/interview-with-thomas-klug-lecturer-at-karlshochschules-master-program-leadership/
http://masterleadership.de/2012/06/03/interview-with-thomas-klug-lecturer-at-karlshochschules-master-program-leadership/#commentsSun, 03 Jun 2012 15:08:57 +0000http://masterleadership.de/?p=670Continue reading →]]>This is another video from our interview series with lecturers of Karlshochschule’s master program “Leadership”. Thomas (Tom) Klug has been working as a manager and consultant in Germany, the USA and in South Africa. He has been working with MIT’s Otto Scharmer, and among others, in his co-edited book on Leadership (“Führung neu verorten“), with Dirk Baecker as a co-author. At Karlshochschule he works with postgraduate students in the program “Leadership” on personal development and soft skills mainly.

]]>http://masterleadership.de/2012/06/03/interview-with-thomas-klug-lecturer-at-karlshochschules-master-program-leadership/feed/0Excursion to the Rhinelandhttp://masterleadership.de/2012/04/27/on-excursion/
http://masterleadership.de/2012/04/27/on-excursion/#commentsFri, 27 Apr 2012 11:41:06 +0000http://masterleadership.de/?p=658Continue reading →]]>Excursions complement classroom learning at Karlshochschule International University, foster academic curiosity and enrich student education. This year’s excursion of the master group went to the Rhineland respectively the County of Berg. The idea was to analyze and discuss a wide variety of environments in which leadership takes place.

First the graduate students accompanied by the Professors Andreas P. Müller, Bernd Ankenbrand and me visited the headquarters of Bayer Material Science (BMS), a world leading manufacturer of polyurethanes. Here the main topics of discussion were leadership, innovation and sustainability along the value creation chain. Although BMS does only produce chemical raw materials, Dr. Michael Graefenstedt, Vice President at BMS, displayed the importance of understanding the consumer, who is in fact three or more tiers away from BMS’ place in the value creation chain. Furthermore we held one of the very first pieces of foambeing a result of the so called “dream reaction” in our hands. It is an old chemist’s dream to make CO2 react. Here the CO2 from industrial exhausts has been converted into polyurethane a raw material which can be used to build windmills or isolation materials.

On our second day we had a two hours discussion with Prof. Dr. Thomas Müller-Kirschbaum VP of Henkel‘s laundry and home care division incorporating brands like Pril, Persil, Somat, Dixan and others. Also here in Düssldorf the connection between leadership, innovation and sustainability was the core subject of our discussions. Henkel’s sustainability vision “Achieving more with less” means to create value by reducing the companies footprint at the same time. A real challenge for corporate leaders since the real lever for better sustainability or reduced footprints is often not the product itself, but more the application – for example: when your dishwashing needs less time, less heat and less water.

Later that day we had a discussion with Frank Stolpmann of smb-consultants, a Dusseldorf based mergers & acquisition specialist introducing us into his field of business. We talked about how to repare a take over, how to evaluate and sell a company and how leaders can improve the post-merger integration processes.

The final day dealt mainly with the cultural environment and a brief look into the history of leadership. First the graduate students visited the Gesenkschmiede Hendrichs an industry museum in the city of Solingen – a former scissors factory. Here the students were confronted with the industrial and social challenges of the 19th century.

Later that day the discussions with Dr. Achim Stanneck, a art historian and specialist for Dutch art in the 15th and 16th century added a further and highly interesting perspective on leadership and aesthetic.

]]>http://masterleadership.de/2012/04/27/on-excursion/feed/1Anthony Teitler on Leadershiphttp://masterleadership.de/2012/03/29/anthony-teitler-on-leadership/
http://masterleadership.de/2012/03/29/anthony-teitler-on-leadership/#commentsThu, 29 Mar 2012 14:32:51 +0000http://masterleadership.de/?p=653Continue reading →]]>Anthony Teitler from London gives lectures in the Master Program “Leadership” at Karlshochschule International University (Karlsruhe/Germany) since March 2012. Being both an actor and a political scientist by education, he has been working in the field of international conflict resolution, among others in Kabul/Afghanistan. In the modules “Structuration” and “Evolutionary Systems” he works with Karlshochschule’s master students on theory and cases on leadership in business, politics and society.

]]>http://masterleadership.de/2012/03/29/anthony-teitler-on-leadership/feed/0The Licence to Maskhttp://masterleadership.de/2012/03/10/the-licence-to-mask/
http://masterleadership.de/2012/03/10/the-licence-to-mask/#commentsSat, 10 Mar 2012 09:48:27 +0000http://masterleadership.de/?p=644Continue reading →]]>Didactics and research programs at Karlshochschule International University are highly connected to a constructivistic and culturalistic approach. We also try to understand Business and Leadership from a cultural perspective. Research questions are for example “How has leadership culturally emerged?“, “What are culturally determined frameworks for leadership and business?“, or “What impact has business leadership on our culture?”

Here is another example on how to discuss current economic and social issues (here: transparency versus privacy versus anonymity) from a historic and cultural perspective.

Dr. Johannes Wiele lectures in Karlshochschule’s master program “Leadership”. His current research is “dedicated to the exploration and discussion of a very old concept of anonymity in private and business life: The Venetian Bauta mask and disguise.”

In Venice the Bauta “was standardized and its use was regulated by government to give Venetian citizens the freedom to do business, to pursue interests on their own and to take part in political activities without being identified while still being recognized and respected as legitimate and honorable members of the Venetian society.”

]]>http://masterleadership.de/2012/03/10/the-licence-to-mask/feed/0Leadership: Our Guest from Norwayhttp://masterleadership.de/2011/11/26/leadership-our-guest-from-norway/
http://masterleadership.de/2011/11/26/leadership-our-guest-from-norway/#commentsSat, 26 Nov 2011 06:45:59 +0000http://masterleadership.de/?p=632Continue reading →]]>I first met Professor Dr. Hong Wu last spring while being on an Erasmus faculty exchange trip to Østfold University College in Fredikstad and Halden, Norway (Høgskolen i Østfold). The Østfold University College is located southeast of Oslo, close to the Swedish border. Several students from Karlshochschule International University currently spend their stay abroad in Halden and Fredrikstad.

Now in November 2011 Dr. Wu – a Norwegian Industrial Engineer born in Beijing/China – visited us at Karlshochschule International University in Karlsruhe/Germany. I actually spent 3 days of exciting co-teaching with him.

Hong Wu who teaches Innovation Management and does research on Industrial Leadership joined our Masters Program Leadership for a colloquium with 2nd year graduate students. Besides discussing the current state of our student’s on-the-job research papers (at Østfold University College they follow similar teaching philosophies like Karlshochschule International University), Hong spoke about his research on Norwegian Industrial Democracy as well as the Nordic Leadership Style which is highly participative and based on the low power distance in Norway’s culture.

Thanks to our student Anne who is working at the Human Resources Department of Michelin (well known for “bibendum“, in German “Michelin Männchen”), we all were invited to visit Michelin’s Tire Museum in Karlsruhe.
(Picture: Dr. Wu tests the quality of tires on Michelins historical merry-go-round)